Computer automation of ultrasonic testing

Report describes a prototype computer-automated ultrasonic system developed for the inspection of weldments. This system can be operated in three modes: manual, automatic, and computer-controlled. In the computer-controlled mode, the system will automatically acquire, process, analyze, store, and display ultrasonic inspection data in real-time. Flaw size (in cross-section), location (depth), and type (porosity-like or crack-like) can be automatically discerned and displayed. The results and pertinent parameters are recorded

Measurement of Solar Spectral Irradiance and Surface Ozone at Carrollton, Georgia, USA, During the Great American Eclipse on 21 August 2017

Measurements conducted at the University of West Georgia, Carrollton, Georgia, during the time of the solar eclipse of 21st August 2017 demonstrated that the integrated spectral irradiance in defined wavelength ranges in the ultraviolet and visible calculated as a fraction of the total irradiance reached a minimum at maximum obscuration of the Sun, whereas in an infrared range it was maximum. The method of analysis adopted supports the view that the changes in spectral irradiance during highly obscured partial phases is a consequence of limb darkening. In a surface ozone measurement, a minimum in ozone concentration occurred 30 +_ minutes after the instant of maximum obscuration. The observation is explained as a combined effects of change in reaction rates of photochemical generation and degradation of ozone

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment for substance misuse services in Nottinghamshire. Final report

This Joint Strategic Needs Assessment contributes to identifying need and quality service delivery of substance misuse services to young people in the Nottinghamshire County Council. This report contributes to the identification of strategic need for planning, in line with the JSNA for Commissioners, and within the time-frame of delivering drafts plans and latest needs assessment by March 2013. A joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA) analyses health needs of populations to inform and guide commissioning of health, well-being and social care services within a local authority area. Producing an annual JSNA has been a statutory requirement for the NHS and local authorities since 2007.The Health and Social Care Bill 2011 proposes a central role for JSNAs so that health and well-being board partners jointly analyse current and future health needs of populations. Local authority-based public health will become responsible for commissioning drug and alcohol prevention, treatment and linked recovery support in April 2013. This Needs Assessment focuses on drug and alcohol use by children and young people within Nottinghamshire and the impact of parent/carer use on children and young people. The purpose is to identify the level of need within the population and review the effectiveness of current services with a view to making recommendations to inform strategy and commissioning decisions for 2012/13

Μελέτη επιπτώσεων συνδρομολόγησηςεφαρμογών σε πολυπύρηνες αρχιτεκτονικές

Understanding viral transmission dynamics within populations of reservoir hosts can facilitate greater knowledge of the spillover of emerging infectious diseases. While bat-borne viruses are of concern to public health, investigations into their dynamics have been limited by a lack of longitudinal data from individual bats. Here, we examine capture-mark-recapture (CMR) data from a species of Australian bat (Myotis macropus) infected with a putative novel Alphacoronavirus within a Bayesian framework. Then, we developed epidemic models to estimate the effect of persistently infectious individuals (which shed viruses for extensive periods) on the probability of viral maintenance within the study population. We found that the CMR data analysis supported grouping of infectious bats into persistently and transiently infectious bats. Maintenance of coronavirus within the study population was more likely in an epidemic model that included both persistently and transiently infectious bats, compared with the epidemic model with non-grouping of bats. These findings, using rare CMR data from longitudinal samples of individual bats, increase our understanding of transmission dynamics of bat viral infectious diseases

Recombinant FXIII (rFXIII-A(2)) Prophylaxis Prevents Bleeding and Allows for Surgery in Patients with Congenital FXIII A-Subunit Deficiency

Recombinant factor XIII-A(2) (rFXIII-A(2)) was developed for prophylaxis and treatment of bleeds in patients with congenital FXIII A-subunit deficiency.mentor (TM) 2 (NCT00978380), a multinational, open-label, single-arm, multiple-dosing extension to the pivotal mentor (TM) 1 trial, assessed long-term safety and efficacy of rFXIII-A(2) prophylaxis in eligible patients (patients with severe [= 6 years. Patients received 35IU/kgrFXIII-A(2) (exactdosing) every 28 +/- 2 days for >= 52 weeks. Primary endpoint was safety (adverse events including immunogenicity); secondary endpoints were rate of bleeds requiring FXIII treatment, haemostatic response after one 35 IU/kg rFXIII-A(2) dose for breakthrough bleeds and withdrawals due to lack of rFXIII-A(2) efficacy. Steady-state pharmacokinetic variables were also summarized. Elective surgery was permitted during the treatment period. Sixty patients were exposed to rFXIII-A(2); their median age was 26.0 years (range: 7.0-77.0). rFXIII-A(2) was well tolerated without any safety concerns. No non-neutralizing or neutralizing antibodies (inhibitors) against FXIII were detected. Mean annualized bleeding rate (ABR) was 0.043/patient-year. Mean spontaneous ABR was 0.011/patient-year. No patients withdrew due to lack of efficacy. Geometric mean FXIII trough levelwas 0.17 IU/mL. Geometric terminal half-life was 13.7 days. rFXIII-A(2) prophylaxis provided sufficient haemostatic coverage for 12 minor surgeries without the need for additional FXIII therapy; eight procedures were performed within 7 days of the patient's last scheduled rFXIII-A(2) dose, and four were performed 10 to 21 days after the last dose.Peer reviewe

An unusual cause of alveolar hemorrhage post hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: A case report

BACKGROUND: Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is being increasingly used in cancer therapy. Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, an early complication of stem cell transplant, results from bacterial, viral and fungal infections, coagulopathy, and engraftment syndrome, or can be idiopathic. Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage associated with Strongyloides stercoralis hyperinfection in stem cell transplant patients has been rarely reported. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe an unusual cause of alveolar hemorrhage post hematopoietic stem cell transplant due to Strongyloides hyperinfection. Therapy with parenteral ivermectin and thiabendazole was initiated but the patient deteriorated and died of respiratory failure and septic shock. CONCLUSION: Strongyloides stercoralis hyperinfection is an unusual cause of alveolar hemorrhage early after hematopoietic stem cell transplant with very high mortality

Social Enterprise in Europe: At the Crossroads of Market, Public Policies and Third Sector

Peer reviewe

Light modulated cnidocyte discharge predates the origins of eyes in Cnidaria

Complex biological traits often originate by integrating previously separate parts, but the organismal functions of these precursors are challenging to infer. If we can understand the ancestral functions of these precursors, it could help explain how they persisted and how they facilitated the origins of complex traits. Animal eyes are some of the best studied complex traits, and they include many parts, such as opsin-based photoreceptor cells, pigment cells, and lens cells. Eye evolution is understood through conceptual models that argue these parts gradually came together to support increasingly sophisticated visual functions. Despite the well-accepted logic of these conceptual models, explicit comparative studies to identify organismal functions of eye precursors are lacking. Here, we investigate how precursors functioned before they became part of eyes in Cnidaria, a group formed by sea anemones, corals, and jellyfish. Specifically, we test whether ancestral photoreceptor cells regulated the discharge of cnidocytes, the expensive single-use cells with various functions including prey capture, locomotion, and protection. Similar to a previous study of Hydra, we show an additional four distantly related cnidarian groups discharge significantly more cnidocytes when exposed to dim blue light compared with bright blue light. Our comparative analyses support the hypothesis that the cnidarian ancestor was capable of modulating cnidocyte discharge with light, which we speculate uses an opsin-based phototransduction pathway homologous to that previously described in Hydra. Although eye precursors might have had other functions like regulating timing of spawning, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that photoreceptor cells which mediate cnidocyte discharge predated eyes, perhaps facilitating the prolific origination of eyes in Cnidaria

An exploratory study on the potential of social enterprise to act as the institutional glue of network governance

This study combines two topics of contemporary salience for public administration: social enterprise and governance networks. While operating at different levels, both are institutions which attempt to draw together the three pillars of state, market, and civil society. Nevertheless, the respective literatures focus on particular aspects of the three pillars. We connect the two concepts and suggest that some social enterprises can act as the institutional glue of networks due to their ability to benefit organizations in each of the three sectors. This requires social enterprises to have the managerial capacity to diffuse social know-how, and is facilitated by the trust of other organizations and a supportive policy framework. The links are explicated at the conceptual level before providing evidence from South Korea and the UK. Finally, research propositions are offered, which suggest new avenues for future research